Competition rules
The same challenge for everyone
Each UTC day provides one competitive puzzle at easy, medium and hard difficulty. Each level’s grid is identical in English and Spanish. Scoring requires a free account with a verified email. Expert is available as provisionally rated practice and is excluded from competition. Leaderboards are recreational, with no cash prizes, betting or entry fees.
One attempt and a continuous clock
You have one scoring attempt per account, UTC day and difficulty. The server records the start when you begin and the finish when it accepts the completed grid. Time keeps running while you switch tabs, close the browser or lose connectivity; competitive timing cannot be paused. Reopening resumes the same attempt. Abandoning uses the attempt and awards no points. Submit before that UTC day ends; unfinished attempts expire when the day changes.
Assistance and fair play
You may enter and erase digits, undo entries and add manual pencil marks. Competitive mode offers no hints or solution reveals. Solve without other people, solvers, automation or external tools that complete the grid. Additional accounts used to rehearse the same challenge, clock manipulation and artificial submissions are prohibited. Practice mode provides learning assistance and awards no leaderboard points.
How points are calculated
A correct finish awards 1000 base points for easy, 2000 for medium and 3000 for hard. A speed bonus adds up to 500 points: The integer part of 500 × maximum(0, 1 − elapsed seconds / reference). References are 600 seconds for easy, 1200 for medium and 1800 for hard. Examples: Easy in 300 seconds earns 1250; medium in 600 seconds earns 2250; hard in 900 seconds earns 3250. At or beyond the reference time, completion still earns all base points, without a penalty for taking longer. The server calculates the result; the browser’s display is not authoritative.
Weeks and tie-breaks
The week begins on Monday at 00:00 UTC and ends when the following Monday begins. Weekly points are the sum of accepted attempts that week; abandoned, expired or under-review attempts do not count. More difficult completions and the published speed bonuses increase the total. Ties are ordered by the lowest total time across accepted attempts, then alphabetically by alias. Both languages share the same weekly leaderboard.
Verification and incidents
The server checks that the givens are unchanged and the completed grid matches its unique solution. Unusual times or behaviour may require review and are excluded from accepted points while investigated. These checks reduce abuse but cannot guarantee detection of all cheating. Request review at admin@sudokuilove.com, including the challenge day and level without publishing its solution. A verified technical incident may lead to proportionate correction or removal of affected results. This first set of rules is dated 20 October 2026; material changes will be published before applying to new challenges.